Numb
by ShisuixSasuka
Summary: This is my first story! Please go easy on me! I'm not good at summary's so please let me know what you think of my story!


**Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto**

**Sasuka Uchiha (c) Me**

**Numb **

It was a cold night; no, beyond cold. It was so frigid a moment's venture into the snow would cause one's entire body to become encased in ice.

And yet there he was, out in the snow, and nothing could persuade him to take shelter from the cold.

Further and further into the icy wastelands he travelled, not knowing or caring where he was going: his heart was as numb as his frost-bitten body, and he truly didn't care whether he survived the venture or not.

Only one life was important to him right now, and that wasn't his.

Trudging through the snow, he reflected upon the events had driven him to these extremes.

--

_"Come with me, Itachi. Come to the Dark World."_

How earnest she had sounded. So sincere, so eager. Wanting this so badly...and about to have her hopes cruelly dashed.

"Sasuka, I can't."

As expected, the beautiful white and blue winged angel's face fell, confusion and doubt in her bright onyx eyes.

"..Why not? I'm treated like a princess there. I could get you anything you want, anything you need..."

"Sasuka, you don't understand. I'm not a being of darkness...I wouldn't survive there."

The human's head was bowed, his eyes shadowed by his hair, his expression inscrutable.

"I belong to the world of Light..."

Knowing the implications of those words hurt Itachi as much as it hurt Sasuka. And there the angel stood her look of pain so real it cut through Itachi's heart like a sword.

Then, Sasuka turned away, and her voice became flat and cool, showing only the smallest hint of bitter reproach.

"I see...angels like me just aren't good enough for a human like you, are they?"

Hurt, Itachi looked up at Sasuka; his hand reaching out to touch the angel's shoulder, only to be roughly shaken away.

"Sasuka...it's not like that. You know I love you for who you are...I just can't--"

The wind howled, obscuring the end of Itachi's sentence. After a moment, Sasuka, in the lightest and darkest of whispers, finished it for him.

"..You just can't love me for what I am."

And before Itachi could say a word, his angelic partner had dashed through the doorway and out into the snow, leaving nothing behind but a swinging door, a trail of invisible tears, and a panicking, distressed older lover.

--

/She ran and ran, tears obscuring her vision, the wind whipping her face, she didn't care, she didn't care. She was tearing herself away from the closest thing she'd ever have to warmth and light because she just wasn't damn well good enough. She never would be. Never would be.../

Itachi continued to trudge through the snow, his emotions as numb as his body, his heart as cold. He never thought he'd lose his own angel. He never realised how heartless he was. Until now...

/Sasuka collapsed under a snow-laden, bare-branched tree, the wind whipping her frost-bitten body into an aching numbness. Was she far enough away? She wanted to find a place where nobody could ever look down on her again. Was this it? She didn't know. She was too numb to care anymore.../

It got to the point where she couldn't see anything but white. White, white, snow and sky...it was all so light and pure, it sickened her. The only thing she wanted to see right now was shadow...HER Shadow. Before it was too late...

/She was feeling faint...she wasn't sure how much longer she could stay alive, let alone awake.../

A single tree could be seen in the distance. Gaining strength from the assurance of at least a landmark, Itachi quickened his pace. Suddenly, he broke into a run, and he'd be damned if he knew why...

/.../

He could see a small winged figure under the tree, lying prone on the ground, half covered in snow. His heart clenched as he recognised who it was, it was Sasuka, she was okay, she was alive...wasn't she..?

"Sasuka!"

/'Sasuka'.../

"Sasuka!!" Itachi kept on running until he was right before Sasuka's body. He fell to his knees, and checked for a pulse. He couldn't feel one. Was that normal for an angel? He didn't know. He couldn't believe he DIDN'T KNOW. He should know these things about his own lover!

"Sasuka!?"

/'Sasuka?'...the voice kept repeating, over and over. But she was so warm and sleepy...she didn't want to follow that voice that led back to the cold and the snow. She did wonder whose voice it was, though...it was so familiar.../

"Sasuka…it's me…Itachi...can you hear me?"

/Yeah, she could hear him alright…Itachi...who was Itachi? Someone in the life that had just passed her by, she supposed...someone she had to leave behind.

-No.-

..what? She felt like this was somebody she didn't want to leave behind. This Itachi...was this person worth Sasuka leaving the warm darkness behind, and going back to the cold and the snow?

..Wasn't "Itachi" the reason she was here in the first place?/

He was sobbing now, but he didn't care. At least his salty tears were warmer than the snow.

"Sasuka...I'm sorry...I'll do anything for you. Anything. I'll come to the dark world...I'll go through hell and back if I have to...just please...come back to me!"

His body convulsed, and he was lost to his tears and grief.

What had he done..?

/What had he done..? Why was the voice so sad, why was Itachi crying? Did they really miss her so much?

Sasuka thought..no, she knew that she missed this Itachi person as much as they seemed to miss her. An aching loneliness which drove all the warmth away from her was more than enough proof of that.

She sighed inwardly...if she was so strongly connected to Itachi, it could only be for the best that she didn't become part of the light yet.

Yes..for now, she wanted to stay as Itachi's angel./

Itachi opened his eyes again, forcing his tears to hold...and froze in shock, for a pair of half-lidded onyx eyes were looking back up at him. They blinked sleepily once or twice, and then the mouth belonging to their owner curved into the smallest smile.

"Itachi..."

The voice was so small and weak, that Itachi had to bend down further to hear it.

"Take me home...please..?"

The smile was contageous. Itachi felt it on his own face, even though he knew he didn't deserve it. He even felt like crying. He hadn't lost his angel, after all. And that made him happier than he ever thought he could be.

--

"How are you feeling..?"

It sounded corny, and Itachi knew it. But that question was foremost in his heart and his mind. Nothing else mattered.

"A little dizzy but I'm ok." Sasuka said moving her wings.

A small grin came on Itachi's face.

Sasuka smiled and looked at Itachi.

Itachi then walked to the angles' side and held her hand.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you." Itachi said.

Sasuka shook her head as if to tell Itachi that she didn't mean to worry him so much.

"I nearly died out there if you never found me." Sasuka said.

Itachi hugged his angle and was careful about her wings.

Sasuka then hugged Itachi back and covered his cold body with her wings.


End file.
